When to Double Consonants in Spelling: Rules and Examples

Grammar Geek

‘Oh, she’s sounding off again!’, I hear you say. This time I’ve been asked to clarify a rule so it’s not my fault, ok? Don’t shoot the messenger! I’ll do my utmost to jazz it up a bit, all right? Grammar is not the most glamorous subject and most of you probably just glazed over when anyone mentioned it at school. Not me, I was a grammar geek; give me a secondary clause and a past participle and I’m anybody’s. Where was I....?

Oh yes! 'Always Exploring' asked me about doubling letters. It happens in ‘occurred’ so why doesn’t it happen in ‘jumped’ (i.e. no double ‘p’). It can be confusing but not if you follow the simple rules. Once you get used to it, it’s not so bad, trust me!

Like any other subject, spelling has its own jargon which is necessary because it takes a lot longer to explain the intricacies without some of that jargon.

The glossary at the end of this article should help with some of the terminology.

One-Syllable Roots

'The robber was sitting in the middle of the road. The traffic had stopped because he'd dropped a case of banknotes and everyone was grabbing some.'

Those sentences contain a few examples of words where doubling is required.

Firstly, let’s look at the root words of one syllable:

Rule 1: One-Syllable Word 'Consonant, Short Vowel, Consonant.'

When a one-syllable word is 'consonant, short vowel, consonant', double the final consonant when you add a suffix. For example:

'I asked him to dinner at the cottage. We had pitted olives and drizzled chicken and a great evening. The next day he was in a coffin. Nobody told me he was allergic to rubber.'

You'll notice several words with double consonants in the middle. It all depends on the vowel, as illustrated below.

In a two-syllable word with a short vowel before the middle consonant, double the consonant.

Source

Rule 3: Words of Two or More Syllables With a Stressed Final Syllable

The following sentence looks at a slightly different reason for doubling the consonant:

'Beginning a long holiday was a good idea; it occurred to him that he preferred the sunshine to help him avoid the fuzz.'

It's all to do with stress. No, not your stress, though you may be experiencing some by now, but the stress or emphasis on a particular syllable. I'll show you:

When a word has more than one syllable, and when the final syllable is stressed in speech, double the final consonant when adding a suffix.

Source

Note that the word ‘preferable’ does not have double ‘r’ - because the stress goes on the first not final syllable.

So now we'll look at what happens when the stress is not on the final syllable.

Rule 4: Don't Double in a Root Word With More Than One Syllable When Last Syllable Not Stressed

In a word with more than one syllable there is no doubling of the last consonant unless the stress is on the last syllable.

Source

Don’t be confused, because the double 'p' in ‘happen’ follows the ‘short vowel/double consonant’ rule.

Rule 5: Don't Double When There is a Long Vowel before the Consonant of Single Syllable Words

As you read the next sentence, think about the pronunciation of vowels in 'dine', 'tune', 'frame' and 'tone'.

‘I was in the diner. The piano tuner was doing his best but the framed painting fell off the wall and landed on his fingers. The newspaper report toned down his language.'

Do not double the consonant when it is preceded by a long vowel in a single-syllable root word.

Source

Rule 6: Don't Double When There Are Two Different Consonants After a Single Vowel

Some words still have two consonants after a vowel but the consonants are two different consonants, not a double of one letter. Two different consonants together are called blends; you can hear the sound of each.

‘He jumped. Unfortunately, his jumper was linked to the railing on the roof so he ended up parked in the balcony, bonded to a sun-lounger which formed a convenient break to his fall.’

Don't double when a consonant blend follows a vowel.

Source

Logical & Painless

There, that wasn’t too painful was it? Keep an eye out when you’re writing and you’ll see how these rules fit in with general spelling. Above all, don’t worry! There are plenty of sources where you can check your spelling if you’re not sure. Just try not to fall into the common traps.

You might just find you’re trapped in a blackened hole with a crazed killer.

Look at that last sentence and see if you can pick out the words which illustrate the main points of this hub.

A Little Ditty to make sure you're Sitting Pretty

Double Trouble:

Take a pin and the garment’s pinned,

so with a gin is your tonic ginned?

Dinner was deliciously spiced,

too much, my eyes had to be iced.

Did you know that he’s a winner?

Oh yes, but he’s so much thinner

than the man who punched his eye,

so he won ‘cos he was spry.

The one who jumped had topped his wife

with a sharpened kitchen knife.

Listen, can you hear her running

from the building where he’s gunning

after her because she cheated.

Maybe he’ll catch up and, sheeted,

she’ll be tipped into her coffin,

beaten by a science boffin.

Double consonants can be rotten

but rules should never be forgotten.

Now you need a Gin & Tonic!

Ice & Lemon? Summer in the Garden | Source

Glossary

Syllable: each separate beat of a word (containing at least one vowel)

Short vowel: a as in cat, e as in pen, i as in lid, o as in mop, u as in buck

Long vowel: a as in make, e as in Pete, i as in vile, o as in cope, u as in fume or rude.

A long vowel sound is also made by vowel digraphs (2 vowels making one sound):

Double 'c', each of which has a separate sound, 'k' & 's', but they follow the short vowel. Double 's' which follows the short vowel. Double 'l' because it is 'ful' (successful) with a suffix ('ly') after it. It is 3 syllables. The double consonant rule is for words with just 2 syllables.

According to the rules that we double the consonant to keep the short vowel directly before it short (as in bottle, happy, rabbit, etc), are the following examples that don't have a double consonant simply exceptions, or do they have a rule of their own that I can't work out? : tonic, melon, habit, lemon which according to the patterns should be spelt tonnic, mellon, habbit, lemmon.

Answer:

As far as I know, they are indeed all exceptions. There are some words which we've adopted and therefore don't fit the rules (so have an excuse) but English is full of exceptions that make the rule!

What about the words "amount" and "account"? Why does "account" have two consonants?

Answer:

I can only say that it's just another anomaly. I've looked up both and I can see no derivations that give me a clue as to any other reason. 'Account' follows the rules, 'amount' doesn't. However, the general rule is for 2 syllables, both being CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) compositions, such as 'rab/bit'; other variations seem to be less consistent with the rule.

Single vowels have various sounds, double vowels are usually digraphs (two letters, one sound); however, there are words where two vowels are side by side, e.g. lion, where we do hear each vowel sound, so you could call that a blend. The word 'blend', though, is normally used for two consonants side by side, where the first consonant 'runs into' the next.

That sounds very complicated and I have never come across that way of doing it. If you stick to what I've described then it works most of the time, though there are always exceptions.

The vowel sound changes (from short to long) depending on the amount of consonants following: e.g. 'finned' (short 'i' as in 'a finned fish') and 'fined' (long 'i' as in 'he was fined £10'). That's the same as the doubling rule above but from the vowel's point of view!

Ann

Jatinder Singh

14 months ago

Hi Ann, thanks for giving a useful rule info about double consonants. I would like to share one with you, i think when in any spelling on the third position like BDGPTMNO consonants come and its end with ed,ing, er, est, so no. then we use the consonant double. but condition is this all consonant should before any vowel. AIEOU like put-putting, begin- beginning. i think its only implement on BDGPTMNO consonant. if you have any more information please share with me. thanks again give me useful info.

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

15 months agofrom SW England

cdonovanrotorua: The rule of a 2-syllable word doubling the middle consonant sound, means that you double one letter (referring to the sound): e.g. din/ner. When you already have two consonants (and therefore 2 sounds), as in 'dismay', then you stick to the consonants you already have. 'Dissent' follows the rule - you can hear the 's' sound and you double that consonant. If you had only one 's' it would change the short vowel sound to a long sound, so would sound like 'die/sent'.

I hope that answers your question but feel free to ask for any further clarification.

It certainly is good that your son is thinking about applying rules, so he deserves high praise for that in itself! It's not easy at first but it sounds as though he'll get the hang of it.

Try making your own words, with lower case, on separate cards, and doing the spelling with him. Have a set of single alphabet letters too.

For example:

A card with 'bag', then a single 'g' from the alphabet set, then a card with 'ed'; the same can be done with bud - d - ing, or run - n - er.

Start with 'bag', then work out with him what the middle sound is for bagged, ask him how he would spell it (double the letter and add the ending) and so on.

I can give you lots more ideas if you'd like to email me.

Ann

cdonovanrotorua

15 months ago

Hi Ann. My son spelt dismay with a double s today. He said he did that because it followed a short i. I was very excited that he was even trying to apply some spellings rules and then realised I could not really explain why it only had one s. Does it depend on whether the s is followed by a vowel such as in dissent? Thanks Catherine

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

15 months agofrom SW England

Artorius: Thank you for your comment.

Ann

Artorius

15 months ago

I found this very interesting and helpful

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

22 months agofrom SW England

Yes, Glenis. I gave the short and long vowel options which tend to reflect Midlands-North accents and the southern accents. I tend to use the long vowel as I come from Sussex but when with my sister in York I often use the short vowel as our father was a Yorkshireman! I like the fact that I can choose!

I hadn't noticed Meghan's accent; that's an interesting observation.

Thanks for reading and for your valuable input, Glenis.

Ann

GlenR

22 months agofrom UK

It's strange. I attended a grammar school but can't recall being taught rules relating to spelling. It just seems to come naturally, perhaps because I was always an avid reader. I landed here because I read in my feed that you had answered a question about how to pronounce grass, Ann. Here's my take on that - I'm from the East Midlands so speak with a short letter A - unless I'm trying to appear terribly posh, in which case I might say grars. Incidentally, have you noticed that the woman who in a former life was Meghan Markle is now speaking Queen's English on many occasions? She sounds like Kate. One of the advantages of being an actress.

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

23 months agofrom SW England

Hello Sunita. Thank you for reading and commenting.

The above rules are about 2-syllable words, which 'attraction isn't; 'middle' fits the rule, the main thing being a short vowel before double letters in the middle of a 2-syllable word.

There are plenty more words, sadly the list would be almost endless!

I appreciate your interest.

Ann

Sunita

23 months ago

As per above rules the double letters comes between 2 vowels. But found few exceptions like " attraction" , "middle".

Middle is a metathesis though we hear the e sound before l we write it later(interchange).

Are there more words, any list.

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

2 years agofrom SW England

Lalit Kumar Sharma: Thank you

LALIT Kumar sharma

2 years ago

Good

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

2 years agofrom SW England

buses - an exception! English is full of them which is what makes it one of the most difficult languages to learn; I'm glad it's my mother tongue!

Unsure

2 years ago

Ok so what about the word bus being made plural. Is it buses or busses?

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

2 years agofrom SW England

Sadly, Sunita, there are many exceptions to most rules. It would be impossible to give you a list of them right now but I'll look into it and see if I can come up with a hub!

Thanks for reading and commenting.

Ann

Sunita

2 years ago

Thank you for sharing the rules for double consonant, was helpful. However the rule2 is applicable for words like rabbit, traffic ... why not raddish?....correct 1 is radish.

can you provide list of such words ...the exceptional cases.

thank you.

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

2 years agofrom SW England

Thank you Batista. Glad this has helped you.

Ann

Batista yob Kiswaga

2 years ago

Thank you for the useful topic you have presented above. I had crucial problem in doubling consonant, but now you have solved.

Feridoon Noori

2 years ago

what about double consonants at the end of a word like "throw"

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

2 years agofrom SW England

That follows the basic rule of double consonants after a short vowel; there is a bank of words with ff, ll and ss, as in stuff, doll & mess. Good question Deborah and thanks for reading.

Ann

Deborah Cichra

2 years ago

What about double consonants at the end of a word like "fluff"?

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

2 years agofrom SW England

Thanks Bill! Always exceptions! Thanks for reading.

Ann

Bill Bingham

2 years ago

It would seem that "offered" and "suffered" do not follow your rule, (but "preferred" and "occurred" do.)

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

5 years agofrom SW England

DJ, don't worry; spelling isn't the be all and end all. The odd mistake doesn't spoil a good story. There's no shame in asking someone; just an alternative to a dictionary.

Thanks for your amusing comment; I appreciate you coming by and thanks for following me.

Ann

DJ Anderson

5 years ago

Oh, my!! What would I do without my spell check? I am the world's worst speller, and somehow my son, like my mother are spelling champs.

Yes, it was embarrassing to ask my middle school son how to spell something. No, it did not deter me, as it took forever to look a word up in the dictionary. My conclusion was I must have been missing the spelling gene, and the grammar gene. However, I did love math.

I will have to give this more attention on a day where I have absolutely

nothing else to do.

But, thank for trying!

DJ.

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

5 years agofrom SW England

peachpurple: It's all in the vowels! Thanks for your second visit today; much appreciated.

Ann

peachy

5 years agofrom Home Sweet Home

I always have problems with the double alphabets

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

5 years agofrom SW England

Thanks, DDE. Glad you found this useful. Happy New Year!

Ann

Devika Primić

5 years agofrom Dubrovnik, Croatia

I learn more each day in grammar and more of the English language I prefer the British English. You have shared a very useful hub and a well-chosen topic. A Happy New Year to you!

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

5 years agofrom SW England

Thanks for that Catherine. There are quite a few different rules between the US and the UK English, as I understand. The British rules for quotation marks make more sense to me too, purely because they clarify meaning.

Having said that, I don't want anyone to think that I think British rules are superior to US rules! I think I've trodden on a few people's toes which is something I definitely didn't want to do (in my hub on Writing Issues). I'm here to try to help, not to annoy people.

I appreciate you getting back to me and for your support, Catherine.

Ann

Catherine Giordano

5 years agofrom Orlando Florida

BTW, I went on the internet to check. The rules for quotes for American English do different from those for British English. The British rules make much more sense.

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

5 years agofrom SW England

Like you, it comes naturally to me but those rules have developed a sound pattern from my teaching of dyslexics and it's ingrained in my brain!

Miss Grammers knows it all so well too.

Although I'm pretty good at spelling etc I have to look things up now and then too!

Thanks for visiting, Catherine.

Hope you have a great Christmas.

Ann

Catherine Giordano

5 years agofrom Orlando Florida

You were a kind and patient teacher. however, remembering the rules is not so easy. I think I'll just rely on spellcheck and dictionaries. Most of the time after a long lifetime speaking and writing English, I just know when to double and when not to double. But, thank heaven for spellcheck.

RonElFran: I don't know where they originated and there are always so many exceptions. I do know that all these rules have helped our dyslexic students because it clarifies patterns and breaks up words into manageable 'chunks'.

I know that UK and US English have different rules, or at least different patterns; US tends to be plainer and easier and I guess ours will eventually become the same.

Interesting that you say you just go by the look of the word - that shows you have an inner sense of what should be! Well done! Thank you so much for your comment.

Ann

Frank Atanacio

5 years agofrom Shelton

annart, a very helpful and useful hub.. like the ditty too but i didn't want to sit pretty LOL

Faith Reaper

5 years agofrom southern USA

You are busy this day, dear Ann. This is very helpful and I know doubling consonants can be so tricky at times. Thank you for your willingness to explain these rules in such a clear and precise manner.

Up +++ tweeting, pinning, G+ and sharing

Hugs and blessings, dear teach!

Ronald E Franklin

5 years agofrom Mechanicsburg, PA

Interesting article. I never thought about there being patterns to when consonants are doubled. You just sort of know from seeing words. For me the next question is, how did these rules come to be? There seems to be too much consistency for them to have just happened. But we know that, unlike the French, we have no academy attempting to formulate the rules for English.

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

5 years agofrom SW England

Thanks, Dora. I hope it helps at least a few. Thanks for reading and for the votes.

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

Ann

Dora Weithers

5 years agofrom The Caribbean

Thanks for another important lesson. You make the rules easy to remember. Voted up!

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

5 years agofrom SW England

always exploring: You've got it; well done! It might well be that you missed this lesson; it's not something that's done often, at least not in Britain. In fact, I don't think they teach grammar at all any more.

You're welcome. Thanks for reading and leaving your input. I'm shelving grammar hubs for a while as I find it quite exhausting trying to make them vaguely interesting!

Happy Christmas!

Ann

Ruby Jean Richert

5 years agofrom Southern Illinois

Can you believe I've been here for some time and I kid you not. I see the light. It was dim at first but you kept on until I got the ' long and short of the subject. ' All kidding aside, I do understand so much better. Thank you Ann. I'll be watching for more instructions. I must have ' skipped ' class the day I was ' supposed ' to learn this. Hee.

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

5 years agofrom SW England

Pawpawwrites: Grammar is difficult for many but it's not impossible!

I 'might' means it's possible and I'll think about it; 'I may' means I'm allowed to or I can.

Thanks for the visit.

Ann

Jim

5 years agofrom Kansas

Grammar is a weakness of mine, so I may have to visit this page again.

Or should it be I might have to visit this page again........see what I mean.

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

5 years agofrom SW England

alancaster49: Hello! Good to see you.

Indeed, there are many spelling differences; much of US English has been simplified which is good as it avoids some confusion. It's interesting that we do have some of those choices. I love seeing the evolution of language.

Many of my dyslexics students used to ask why they couldn't spell phonetically. I wish I could've let them go ahead; they were much better at that! So perhaps that's an indication that we should bin all the spelling rules and go with the flow. Frankly I'm torn but my purist English education is deeply embedded in my psyche! Ah well....

Season's Greetings to you too; I hope you enjoy the Christmas period and that 2015 is a great year for you and yours.

Ann

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

5 years agofrom SW England

Hilarious, bill! I wouldn't dare to say that, of course.

Thanks as always. I'm enjoying a quiet day with my computer, looking forward to the build up to Christmas Day. For once I'm organised but don't worry it won't happen again.

Happy holidays to you too, bill. May you have a wonderful Christmas full of joy and peace with all your family.

Ann :)

Alan R Lancaster

5 years agofrom Forest Gate, London E7, U K (ex-pat Yorkshire)

Hello again Ann, Season's Greetings.

Across the Pond they use variations from UK/Commonwealth English. Where we write, e.g. 'excelled' 'smelled', 'levelled' they have 'exceled', 'smelt' and 'leveled'. As a rule grammar rules between US and UK are one and the same, there are differences that go back in date beyond Standard English (late 18th-early/mid 19th Century).

Bill Holland

5 years agofrom Olympia, WA

Good morning, Ann, and Happy Sunday to you! Little did I know I'd be going back to school today. Does the education never end???? :)

Great primer on grammar. Hopefully some of the writers on HP will read this....heck, hopefully some of the editors on HP will read this. :) Oops, did I just say that? :)

Have a great day, my friend, and Happy Holidays to you.

bill

AUTHOR

Ann Carr

5 years agofrom SW England

Exactly, John. Thanks for your kind comment. I just hope it's useful!

Great to see you today! Hope you have a wonderful Christmas week and that Christmas Day is joyous for you and yours.

Ann

John Hansen

5 years agofrom Queensland Australia

A very well written and helpful hub Ann. To double consonants or not to double consonants, that is the question. Thanks for this.

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